


Whumptober Day One

by Justdatobsession



Series: Whumptober 2019 [1]
Category: DCU
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Panic Attacks, Shaky Hands, Tim Drake is Robin, Torture, Whump, dislocation, i dont even know tbh, prompt no.1, whumptober2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 01:54:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20858291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justdatobsession/pseuds/Justdatobsession
Summary: Whumptober Day One - Prompt: Shaky HandsDick and Tim are forced to solve one of the Riddler's puzzles.





	Whumptober Day One

_“You have five minutes. Good luck, you’re gonna need it.”_

Dick let out a huff of frustration at the voice that came over the speakers. He had come back to visit Gotham one time and now he was stuck in another one of the Riddler’s schemes. He surveyed the room, he was surrounded by four concrete walls. The only light came from a small, flickering lightbulb that hung from the ceiling. Its weakened glow tinged the room yellow. The suffocating quiet made unease settle in the bottom of Dick’s stomach.

He had no idea what he had five minutes left to do. Escape, maybe? He wasn’t sure. He took one last glance around the room, noticing a small trap door on the opposite wall. It was just big enough for him to fit through. He grabbed the handle and pulled. The door screeched as dick continued his attempt to force it open. There was a loud snap as the hinges burst and Dick stumbled backwards. The door clattered to the ground revealing a small tunnel on the other side.

Dick frowned, dropping to his hands and knees to get a better look at the tunnel. The walls and floor were made of the same smooth concrete as the room. The darkness kept him from seeing too far inside so he could only guess what lay on the other side. He hesitated. Going through was probably a bad idea but so was staying in that concrete room.

_“Four minutes.”_

Dick made his decision. He lowered himself to his stomach and pushed himself through the tunnel, taking care to listen for any danger that might be lurking in the shadows. As the tunnel went on it slowly got bigger. Eventually, Dick was able to crawl on his hands and knees, then walk in a crouched position, and once he was finally able to stand straight up he heard a soft click before he was hit with bright, fluorescent lighting. He used his arm to shield his eyes as he waited for them to adjust.

“Who’s there?”

Dick recognized that voice.

In the centre of the room sat a pristine metal table. On top lay a figure with a brown bag over his head. His torso had been strapped to the table and he struggled against the shackles clamped around his wrists and ankles, each attached by chains to four pulley systems that were bolted to the four separate corners of the room.

_“Three minutes.”_

Dick rushed over to the table, his footsteps echoing against the concrete walls. He yanked the bag from the figure’s head.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Tim said. A sigh of relief escaped his lips.

Dick’s brow furrowed in confusion, “How did you get caught? Where’s Bats?”

“I’ll explain later,” Tim replied, tugging against his restraints. “Can you just get me out of this?”

There was a loud click and Dick whirled around to see a panel had opened up on the wall behind him. He stepped over, inside the panel were five buttons coloured green, blue, yellow, red, and purple. Dick frowned, normally the Riddler left some kind of clue to solve his puzzles with.

He reached for the yellow button, his fingers resting on its smooth surface. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before pressing it. The pulley machines whirred to life, a soft hum filled the air as the chains slowly started to retract.

“Ah- SHIT!” Tim screeched as his limbs were pulled taut. He strained against the shackles until the room when silent again and the chains went still. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?”

Dick took a shaky breath and stepped away from the panel. “There’s a bunch of buttons here. I just pressed one.”

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” Tim’s voice was strained, he was taking short, shallow breaths. “I- whatever! I was given a riddle to solve just give me a second to figure it out.”

_“Two minutes.”_

The pulleys started up again. Tim let out a soft gasp as his limbs were stretched even further. There was a deafening pop and Dick winced as Tim grit his teeth to muffle a scream. His right shoulder was completely dislocated. If the machines had gone any further his arm would have been torn right off.

Tim squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to keep his breathing even. “Press the green button.”

“Are you sure?”

“Just trust me!” Tim was growing impatient, although, Dick was sure that anyone would be if they were in his situation.

Dick turned back to the panel, his hand hovering over the green button. He would always trust Tim but he also couldn’t help but think about what would happen if it were the wrong button. Tim had only been robin for just over a month. After what happened to Jason… Dick didn’t want to think about losing Tim too. He paused, gathering all the willpower he could to press it.

_“One minute.”_

The pulleys whirred to life again and Dick slammed his hand into the button. The lights briefly flashed green and the whirring stopped as the pulleys shut down. The shackles, however, didn’t come undone.

“Okay- so there’s two more you need to hit,” Tim’s voice had a shakiness to it. “The riddle was kind of unclear about which came first. It’s either red or purple.”

Dick stared at the panel. His fingers brushed the red, then the purple button. His decision would result in Tim being saved or being permanently injured. He didn’t want to be responsible for that. He couldn’t be responsible for that.

His hands were shaking.

He could barely breathe, the room swam around him as he grew lightheaded. Tim was saying something but it was muffled by Dick’s own heartbeat pounding in his ears. He couldn’t take losing another brother.

_“Thirty sec-”_

The lights shut off. The room went dead quiet aside from Tim’s shallow breathing. There were footsteps coming from the tunnel. Dick forced himself into a state of calm as he faced the source of the noise, lowering himself into a fighting stance.

“Stand down.”

Dick let out a sigh of relief. A smile ghosted his lips at the sound of that familiar voice. A flashlight flicked on and Bruce aimed it at the two.

“We can talk about how reckless the two of you were once we get back to the manor.”

Dick’s smile widened into a relieved grin. They were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> hhhHHHH thanks for reading. Any critique is appreciated! My tumblr is [@make-it-whumpier](https://make-it-whumpier.tumblr.com/) if you wanna give me a follow!


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